Even after Edwin Diaz went down for the season again in March, it was inconceivable the Mets, with their file highest payroll in historical past, would wind up sellers on the buying and selling deadline. Yet right here they’re, elevating the white flag over Flushing, starting with the buying and selling of David Robertson to the Marlins for a few low-level teenage “futures” plus agreeing to deal Max Scherzer to the Rangers and all however admitting they’ve been a $345 million disaster.
And someplace Steve Cohen is asking: “How did it come to this?” And, maybe extra importantly: “Where do we go from here?”
How it got here to that is largely unexplainable. You might make the case that GM Billy Eppler maybe didn’t do an amazing job of roster development, however how does Jeff McNeil hit almost 80 factors beneath his league-leading .326 batting common final 12 months? Or Pete Alonso’s slash line of .271/.352/.518 in 2022, shrink to .217/.315/.497? Or Francisco Lindor fall off from a .270 batting common and .788 OPS final 12 months to .228/.760 whereas on tempo for 30-40 fewer RBI?
It was no person’s fault that Jose Quintana, counted on to fill one of many rotation vacancies from the free agent departures of Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker, missed the primary 3 ½ months of the season with a freak harm, however with out him the Nos. 4 and 5 spots after Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga have been an unenviable crapshoot all season lengthy for Buck Showalter. Most egregious, nevertheless, was Eppler’s failure to safe any hard-throwing strikeout arms behind Robertson, because the Mets pen appeared too typically to be an limitless parade of Triple-A “tin cans”.
If there’s one factor we’ve realized about this Mets pratfall — apart from payroll doesn’t equivocate to pennants (see: Yankees) — it’s that they’re nowhere close to the identical class because the Braves, who’ve superior gamers, on each side of the ball, at catcher, first base, second base, third base, proper discipline and possibly even middle discipline the place Michael Harris II, an elite defender, is creating quick right into a strong hitter. And whereas we would give the sting at shortstop to the Mets, it’s based mostly purely on Lindor’s fame. The truth of the matter is the Braves’ Orlando Arcia has had an All-Star season.
There’s not a complete lot Eppler can do concerning the Mets’ offense as a complete apart from hope Alonso, McNeil and Lindor will revert to ‘22 form and that Starling Marte, at 35 next year, isn’t nearing the tip of the road (because it’s seemed) and has some comeback in him. They lack energy within the outfield which might be partially rectified by shifting Brett Baty off third base the place he’s been a defensive legal responsibility. That would additionally open up a spot for Ronny Mauricio, whose time seems to be at hand.
But if Cohen ever expects to comprehend the fruits of his spending, Eppler goes to want to make main additions to the pitching workers — beginning with re-signing Robertson (who beloved pitching for Showalter) after the season. That would definitely assist ease the angst of Met followers unwilling to attend ‘til 2025 or later to see the 2 prospects, 18-year-old center infielder Marco Vargas, or 19-year-old switch-hitting catcher Ronald Hernandez, he obtained again from the Marlins. To shut the hole on the Braves, the Mets are going to must do it with pitching, and with the understanding there will not be a complete lot left within the tank with Scherzer and Verlander.
Word is, due to Eppler, they might have a leg up on the competitors for 25-year-old Orix Buffaloes righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto acknowledged as the very best pitcher in Japan the previous few seasons, who might be a free agent on the finish of the season. But they’re going to want a minimum of yet another starter and it could be good if one might emerge from the system from amongst Blake Tidwell, Mike Vasil, Christian Scott or Dominic Hamel. And the bullpen, even with Diaz’s return and a re-signing of Robertson, wants a near-total overhaul.
Cohen could discover this tough to consider however the cause his Mets are sellers on the buying and selling deadline this 12 months is as a result of they’re not an excellent crew, offensively, defensively and pitching-wise.
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IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD
There was fairly a hue and cry among the many nation’s baseball media final week when the Angels declared Shohei Ohtani was not being traded — after which went out and dealt two of their high three prospects to the White Sox for rental righty Lucas Giolito.
“How could they hold onto him?” howled the lots, to which I might say: “How could they not?” Even if all of the naysayers show to be proper and the Angels don’t make the playoffs, it’s a must to give them credit score for attempting, and even when Ohtani does transfer on as a free agent, how do you commerce a participant – it doesn’t matter what the circumstances – who’s having probably the most unimaginable season in baseball historical past?
Angel followers all really feel blessed (as can we all) to have the ability to witness Ohtani’s each day pitching and hitting feats — like final Thursday’s doubleheader in opposition to the Tigers when Ohtani notched his first profession shutout within the opener — a one-hitter — and got here again within the nightcap to hit his thirty seventh and thirty eighth homers because the Angels’ DH. Ohtani, who says the key of his success is sleeping 12 hours a day, went into the weekend main the majors in homers, triples (7), complete bases (258), OPS (1.070) plus fewest hits allowed per 9 innings (5.9) and opponents batting common (.185).
According to the Elias Bureau, solely two gamers in historical past, Jim Rice in 1978 and Willie Mays in 1955, have ever led the league in each homers and triples in the identical season. The American League MVP must be unanimous, regardless of the place the Angels end up. We’ve by no means seen something like this earlier than and probably by no means will.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com